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July 23, 2008

Bettinger to Succeed Charles Schwab

Schwab president will become CEO on October 1

Walt Bettinger, the 47-year-old president and COO of Charles Schwab Corp., will succeed the company's founder and chairman, Charles R. Schwab, as CEO of the company effective Oct. 1. Bettinger had been seen as the likely successor to Charles Schwab, 70, since he was named to his current position in February 2007.

Bettinger joined Charles Schwab after the company acquired in 1995 the retirement plan services firm he founded, The Hampton Company. In a statement announcing the promotion, Charles Schwab, who will retain the position of chairman, pledged that "I will continue to serve as a very active chairman and look forward to continuing the strong partnership that Walt and I have developed."

As president and COO, Bettinger oversaw Schwab Institutional, the largest custodian for RIAs, which as of June 30 counted $575.3 billion in RIA assets--a 3% increase from the same period in 2007. While net new assets were up 20% year over year, they slowed in the second quarter to $14.5 billion from the $19.9 billion posted in the first quarter.

On July 16, the company announced net income of $295 million, a 1% increase from 2007's first quarter, on $1.30 billion in net revenues, up from $1.20 billion in 2007. However, income from continuing operations (which excludes U.S. Trust, which was sold by Schwab on July 1, 2007) was up 22% for the quarter.